Iraq’s economy is booming
December 18th, 2006 by Double Tap
…and I’m not talking about bombs going off here. Of course, don’t take my word for it - read the Newsweek article. Says the article:
Consider Iraqna, the leading mobile-phone company…The company posted revenues of $333 million in 2005. This year, it’s on track to take in $520 million. The U.S. State Department reports that there are now 7.1 million mobile-phone subscribers in Iraq, up from just 1.4 million two years ago.
Who would have thunk?
Real estate is booming. Construction, retail and wholesale trade sectors are healthy, too, according to a report by Global Insight in London. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports 34,000 registered companies in Iraq, up from 8,000 three years ago. Sales of secondhand cars, televisions and mobile phones have all risen sharply. Estimates vary, but one from Global Insight puts GDP growth at 17 percent last year and projects 13 percent for 2006.
And it’s not just Iraqi companies driving the economy, ordinary citizens are helping too.
Nor are ordinary Iraqis themselves short on cash. After so many years of living under sanctions, with little to consume, many built up considerable nest eggs—which they are now spending. That’s boosted economic activity, particularly in retail. Imported goods have grown increasingly affordable, thanks to the elimination of tariffs and trade barriers. Salaries have gone up more than 100 percent since the fall of Saddam, and income-tax cuts (from 45 percent to just 15 percent) have put more cash in Iraqi pockets. “The U.S. wanted to create the conditions in which small-scale private enterprise could blossom,” says Jan Randolph, head of sovereign risk at Global Insight. “In a sense, they’ve succeeded.”
Granted, a lot of corporate income is spent on security, which substancially increases their overhead. However the money is spent, it’s still trickling down to Iraqi consumers.
Yeah, Iraq is still a tough country to live in - some places worse than others. However, it isn’t everything the liberals would have you believe.
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Ha! Please explain to me how security industry money “trickles down” to the “Iraqi consumer”? That’s the biggest joke I’ve heard this week. Is this what you AGR guys do all day? Cheers, CPT B.
But you can’t refute the numbers in the story, can you? By the way, I had the day off today. You’ll note that the majority of my blog posts are after 7pm.
Follow up, to answer your question more directly. You and I were at the same FOB. How many Iraqis did we employ? How many Iraqis were employed in security? It was a couple hundred in security alone. Iraqi companies need security too. Who do you think they hire? I’m guessing - Iraqis.
I guess you’re using “trickle” in the geological sense. I forget. Can you remind me what the American supervisors were paid vs the Iraqi guards? Do American dollars qualify as a “booming Iraqi economy”? Check your premise. CPT B